The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1887-11-08
Farming by Contract


Most farmers feel that there are too many
uncertainties In their business TO allow tho
calm serenity OF mind essential to complete
happiness. II they could have clear assurance
about some things they would work more
hopefully and presumably more successfully,
SAWS The American CtltiValor There is, hrst OF
all, serious doubt about the outcome OF their
crops. While the promise that scedtime aud
harvest shall never cease holds good ~ regards
man collectively, It is poor comfort Tor the IN
diyldual farmers who find their crops bllghted
by rust, drowned by water or shrivelled by
droughta Some Of these catastrophes occur
every year, and 10 q certain extent are un-
avoidable.
A greater cause OF anxiety with most farm
va, however, is the price they will receive Tor
heir products. Leaving everything to be
settled at last by the ruling market price Is the
CUSTOMARY way, and the rusult Is that after a
good crop has been secured the farmer Is I'M
able to tell whether he Ia going to make or
lose until the crop has been sold II the crop
Is poor he can perhaps have the satisfaction,
such as 1t is, of knowing from the first that he
Ia sure to lose money, leaving him only In I'M
certainty as to how much. II Is this worrying
over uncertainties that Is destroying
the life OF thousands OF farmers today. For
ages the farmers condition has been sung by
poets as free from csrking care; but 1t Is so
no longer Farmers themselves have always
resented this notion, perhaps on the the gen.
eral principle that none are willing to admit
that their trials and troubles are less easy to
be borne than those of their neghbors Now,
however. the fact that the farmers business
has its uncertainties as well AS any other is
recogn ized by all who have In any way investi-
gated this subject
Cannot some means be devised whereby farm
ers may relieve themselves OF part OF the
uncertainty about prices, and thus put their
business on a safer and less worrisone basis.
We believe that growing at least part of the
farm crops on contract for a certain price will
do much to relieve farmers Of the uncertain
ties Of their position. Men who rent land get
at this matter on the same principle by work
Ing on shares" paying not money rental,
but a certain proportion of the proceeds for
the use of the land II is an equitable and
safe manag ement for both parties, obliging
the land owner TO assume part OF the loss from
failure OF crops or great depreciation In prices.
Sometimes the farmer who works on shares
paws an excessive rental when he grows heavy
crops and sells at good prices; but his own
gains are also proportionably increased. Many
such after year or two Of great prosperity
have been mlsed into agreements 10 pay =
specified money rental, but In nine cases out
OF ten this has resulted dlsastrously II has
not been safe for several years past for farmers
to agree to pay even low rental value for
large farms They NAV probably rent small
pieces for special purposes at high prices; but
let them extend this over large farm, and
under ordinary circumstances they will fail
Growing part of their crops on ontract is a
means whereby many farmers now do relieve
themselves OF uncertainties about prices How
is this donei Surely no one Is foolish enough
10 stpulate TO take large crop at price
greater than farmers usually obtain. Yes, this
IA exactly what seedsmen and Others do every
wear. and IL is not foollshness either. The cx-
PLANTATION Is that average farm products are
moor I'm quality, mixed with weed seeds or the
seeds Of other grains, and generally sent TO
market In a slipshod, mxed-up condition. we
have often seen wagon loads OF potatoes con-
sisting of a dozen different varieties, a
speckled, notified lot, some varieties more
subject to rot than others, and these spreading
disease through the whole. The farmer
marketed them this way because IL was too
much trouble for him to assert them, and Tor
cooking he thought II did not make much
difference whether potatoes were all OF one
kind or not or course such potatoes must
often be sold considerably lower than the
market price of good lots all Of one variety.
Even for using as food uniformity In quail
ty Is most desirable; but for the scotsman II
is most essential. He can well afford to pay a
considerably higher price than mere cost OF
growing potatoes II the grower wiz agree 10
keen them separate. Ii Is one OF the open
secrets in the seedsmen's business that few or
none of even the largest houses grow them
selves the thousands OF bushels or tons that
they usually dispose Of What they do Is to
grow a few Of the seeds requiring extra care
under their own supervision on their grounds,
near or possibly In some large city, and worth
perhaps a thousand dollars per acre. IL 10
absurd TO suppose that scedsmcn will use such
land for growing seed, oats, corn or potatoes
when each of these equally good may be pro-
duced far more cheaply by farmers living, per
haps hundreds OF miles away, on land worth
less than tenth Of what theirs would sell for.
When any large scotsman finds careful,
paInstaklng farmer willing to cultivate thor
ouphy and keep his crops free from mixture
with other seeds or other varieties, he can
well afford to pay him considerably more than
the profits OF ordinary farming.
II Il thus that many successful farmers
have got their start Probably not so good q
chance exists now ne formerly, for the com
netItlon in seed growing and selling has re-
duced profits But II still remains true that
care and thoroughness In doing work right
paws in farming as well as In anything else
In farming especially, II is just now the ONLY
kind of work that does pay. SO that after all
In recommending discouraged farmers to
grow their crops on contract, we must add
that TO do this the farmer must first acquire
the thoroughness and carefulness In his busi-
ness which rather than any special bargain Is
necessary 10 insure him a better price for his
products than his more careless and sloveniy
neighbors can command.